Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Remote Employee
Hiring remote employees can be great and can save a lot of money on office space. How can you hire the best work-from-home talent? An article by Inc. highlighted some key questions you should be asking potential virtual employees.
- Are you clear on the expectations of this role? Be very specific about what is required for the role. Quantify what is expected. This sets both parties up for success.
- What motivates you? You are looking for a self-starter. People that require instructions all the time are not well-suited for a work-from-home role. A high level of motivation is required to work from home, given the wide array of potential distractions. What drives this person? What gets them motivated to get things done and make progress?
- Have you done this before? Find out if the potential employee has worked from home before. If so, find out how it went. If it didn’t go well in the past, find out why. You ultimately want to find out if the individual knows how to work from home and if they have done so successfully in the past.
- Do you have a quiet place to work? Working at home can be very distracting with dogs, kids, neighbors, etc. Find out if they have a home office. If they don’t, do they plan to work at a coffee shop? Another option would be to rent out shared office space for them.
- Are you comfortable with time alone? The major drawback of working from home is the social isolation. People typically prosper in environments with social interaction. Not having that interaction can lead to unhappy employees. Find out if they have been in this situation before and what strategies they plan to use to manage the isolation.